Maritime union doffs its cap to Patrick

Patrick Stevedores has rid itself of a range of notorious productivity killers at its Port Botany container terminal as a result of the national enterprise agreement which it reached with the Maritime Union of Australia on Thursday.

These include unacknowledged capacity caps on better-performing crane driving teams imposed by union militants, which will become much easier for the company to police following the settlement.

The union has agreed to end the double handling of empty containers at the Port Botany terminal caused by demarcation between the MUA and the Transport Workers Union.

The company has also importantly won a better agreement for dispute resolution procedures than the one demanded by the union at Port Botany.

A wave of last-minute local demands at the Port Botany site had stalled final agreement on the national labour deal for months.

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Most issues between the two sides, with the exception of those at Port Botany and one matter in Fremantle, had been agreed between the company and the union last November.

The local demands at Port Botany included a gym at the site, and two lockers per employee, which were dropped by the union talks with Fair Work Australia.

Although the issue of productivity caps is not included in the agreement John Mullen, chief executive of Patrick’s owners
Asciano
, said that problem had been acknowledged by the MUA side for the first time “and has been lifted".

When go-slows took place at Port Botany in recent months as the negotiations stalled, Asciano got section 418 orders from Fair Work Australia to prevent them from happening. Company sources said this development means go-slows and productivity caps are now on the record, and gives Patrick a precedent to take back to Fair Work Australia if the stevedore thinks it is happening again.

Mr Mullen said that the MUA had also wanted to bring back to Port Botany the status quo principle in the important dispute resolution procedures included in the deal.

This means that if the company proposes changes, things have to stay as they are while the company tries to persuade the union to accept them.

The agreement adopts a more standard type of resolution system, said Mr Mullen, with a list of areas that will go to arbitration. Beyond these issues, the company has to right to implement changes with consultation.